15th Anniversary trip....trip report

[crystal1313]

Hello! We leave this coming Monday for Aulani, 7/11 and just thought I would start my pre-trip report now.

A little background: Last year, we started thinking of doing something big for our 15th wedding anniversary coming up in 2016. We normally don't do "big" vacations. I haven't been on an airplane since 2003. We typically drive to our destinations.

We went through a lot of options, but both realized we wanted to go somewhere warm and tropical and basically, just relax (well, as much as you can relax with an 8 and 6 year old, LOL). So we settled on Hawaii. Then it was research time. I did tons of research and along the way, we ended up inviting my parents along with us. They have never been on a jet before!! So then I did even more research, looking at Kaui, Maui, and the big island. Both my DH and I had been to Hawaii before, but never together. I noticed that pricing for Aulani was about the same as some of the high end resorts, but that child care was a lot of money extra x2. We aren't planning on putting the kids in a kids club all day or anything, but a break now and then for an adult meal or beverage would be nice, after all this is our anniversary trip! So after checking our options we chose Aulani (plus we love Disney, so that was an added bonus ).

We went with a 2 bedroom villa. At the time of booking we could each rent a regular hotel room, or we could rent the two bedroom villa and the price split in half would only be about $250 more total for the week. We thought having the kitchen and extra living space would be nice.

We booked our flights soon after and scored a free ticket using our Amex points. We are flying Alaska out of Oakland.

The crew is me, DH and our DS8 and a DS6 and my parents who are 60 that are joining us. We are all pretty excited and this is a trip of a lifetime for all of us. We have been scrimping and saving and my awesome DH even painted 3 of the exteriors of our neighbors homes to help pay for this trip! I sometimes feel guilty for spending so much money on this vacation..........like I said, we normally don't vacation like this. So I keep telling myself that after 15 years of marriage, we deserve an awesome trip like this. It's still hard for me to spend this kind of money. We have about $600 saved up for spending money. I am guessing we will go over that with food, etc. I sold a bunch of old toys and clothes, etc for extra cash and we got a Disney Visa and racked up a ton of rewards on that too. =)

My boys:


DH and I:

 

[twodogs]

So excited that it is finally here for you!! I've enjoyed co-planning with you since our families are pretty similar for this trip and our trips were so close together. I know you will have a fantastic time!!

 

[crystal1313]

So, I have been packed since 7/4, haha! I am a planner. I have read these boards as much as possible for tips, tricks, advice, opinions, etc. So much great info on here! Shout out to @jtba for helping me so much and answering my millions of questions! Also @twodogs and @sgrap and @KateP85 for their wonderful and detailed trip reports =) Hope I can add some details and help someone out as much as you all helped me!

We basically don't have many plans this trip. My parents and I are headed to Pearl Harbor on Wednesday. We just rented a car for the day from Alamo. We are taking Speedi Shuttle to and from the airport. I think after PH, we plan to hit up the swap meet, Leonards truck and Costco. DH and the boys are staying at the resort. We have reserved the top Ama Ama deck casabellas for Thu-Sun. My parents have Ama Ama reservations on Tuesday, which is their 41st wedding anniversary. DH and I have Ama Ama reservations on Thursday. We hope to hit up Roy's and Monkeypod as well. Other than that, no set plans. Just swimming and relaxing!!

 

[happymommy]

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

I would highly recommend going to Costco first day! You can stock up, and they carry beer, wine, liquor, ready made foods, etc... plus lots of cool Hawaiian stuff.

We do this every trip, but we always have a car the whole time (we own at the Marriott right next to Aulani, and go for 2 weeks every other year, although ended up going an extra week on our "off" year due to a trip to Korea). We shop a lot at Costco, and eat in a lot (most dinners are in). One huge bottle of liquor costs about what two little drinks would, so we make our own & bring it down to the pool.

Of course, you may be eating out more than we do, so this may not be a priority, but it saves money for sure. We do end up spending a lot of $$ at Costco, but it's nothing like the cost of eating out!

If you like sushi, I'd recommend Sushi Bay in Kapolei, right near Safeway. It is so good and inexpensive!

There was a shopping shuttle that runs weekends I think from the Marriott - not sure if it picks up at Aulani. It goes to Costco, Target, and Safeway I think? It's weekends only, so good for those checking in on the weekends to stock up but who don't have a car.

 

[crystal1313]

Hi! We plan to hit up Island Country Market our first day just for a couple essentials and then wait to go to Costco until Wednesday. We really don't want to rent a car another day or pay for a cab (would a cab be mad if we had a bunch of groceries?). We are thinking we may try to uber, but they seem few and far between in the Ko Olina area. I am not too worried about it. We are hoping to eat 2 meals a day in the villa and one meal out. But, DH mentioned he wouldn't mind grilling one night, so we will see what Costco has.

 

[happymommy]

In my opinion, it would be worth it to either rent a car the day you arrive, shop, and return it at Aulani, or take a cab.

Costco has prices very similar to home! Only sticker shock for most folks is that bread costs a lot, and at this Costco it's sold as one loaf, not two.

We usually buy frozen sirloin burgers, and have grilled hamburgers for lunch a couple of days, then I thaw out the remainder and use them for sloppy joes or something. No, it's not Hawaii food, but it's nice when we're just not feeling like going out. We don't go out a lot (well, the kids and I do, but DH has to work from his laptop while we're there), and we stay a long time (next year I'm going with DD for 4 weeks while the boys will join us the last two). And, we lived on Oahu before.

You can also get some very fresh fish at Costco to grill. And sashimi. I'm not a fan of their poke, but I'm picky! Many folks like it!!!!!!

Sometimes we stop at Target when we arrive, then the next morning go to Costco. We come from Maryland, so have a 6 hour time difference. I'm usually up for close to 24 hours by the time I go to bed first night.

Costco is super close, so a cab may not be too much. I'm not sure since we don't ever go without a car the whole time.

 

[alohamom]

I think if you are arriving Monday you should be ok with getting more supplies on the Wednesday. I would (and do) bring some things from home like spices, granola bars, things that might cost you more at island markets that you would need. They are kind of boutique-ish for those types of items therefore pricey. Just fyi

 

[crystal1313]

In my opinion, it would be worth it to either rent a car the day you arrive, shop, and return it at Aulani, or take a cab.

Costco has prices very similar to home! Only sticker shock for most folks is that bread costs a lot, and at this Costco it's sold as one loaf, not two.

We usually buy frozen sirloin burgers, and have grilled hamburgers for lunch a couple of days, then I thaw out the remainder and use them for sloppy joes or something. No, it's not Hawaii food, but it's nice when we're just not feeling like going out. We don't go out a lot (well, the kids and I do, but DH has to work from his laptop while we're there), and we stay a long time (next year I'm going with DD for 4 weeks while the boys will join us the last two). And, we lived on Oahu before.

You can also get some very fresh fish at Costco to grill. And sashimi. I'm not a fan of their poke, but I'm picky! Many folks like it!!!!!!

Sometimes we stop at Target when we arrive, then the next morning go to Costco. We come from Maryland, so have a 6 hour time difference. I'm usually up for close to 24 hours by the time I go to bed first night.

Costco is super close, so a cab may not be too much. I'm not sure since we don't ever go without a car the whole time.

Well, we booked a package through Aulani, and it is all paid for with our Shuttle to and from the airport. We are not DVC members. That is why we don't have a car all week, we don't want to pay the parking fee if we are hardly going to use the car. We don't have a Costco membership, but I called and we can use the Costco giftcards we got for Christmas to shop there. =)

I think if you are arriving Monday you should be ok with getting more supplies on the Wednesday. I would (and do) bring some things from home like spices, granola bars, things that might cost you more at island markets that you would need. They are kind of boutique-ish for those types of items therefore pricey. Just fyi

Thank you! We are packing salt and pepper and some olive oil and I have a whole case of kids cliff bars and fruit rope and goldfish. LOL. My kids are grazers, so they snack quite a bit. I think DS6 lives off the cliff bars. We just made a reservation for Ama Ama for breakfast Tuesday morning. DH saw the post about the macadamia nut pancakes! Yum!

 

[jtba]

we helped ourselves to a few envelopes of salt & pepper from ulu cafe after realizing the kitchenette didn't have them, and we were too lazy to walk across the street to get a big tub of morton's...

 

[happymommy]

Oh so I get it, if the shuttle is paid for then you may as well use it!

Definitely worth it to go to Costco - and if you were planning on bringing things like souvenir coffees or macadamia nuts, this is a good place to buy them! Other place would be for the nuts, in different flavors, to get them at the swap meet at the stadium (which is the place for tee shirts).

 

[crystal1313]

Oh so I get it, if the shuttle is paid for then you may as well use it!

Definitely worth it to go to Costco - and if you were planning on bringing things like souvenir coffees or macadamia nuts, this is a good place to buy them! Other place would be for the nuts, in different flavors, to get them at the swap meet at the stadium (which is the place for tee shirts).

Great to know about the macadamia nuts at the swap meet! I LOVE macadamia nuts!! Thanks for all the great tips!!

 

[twodogs]

I think the island market has enough selection of basics to get you through two days. Ulu was our backup anytime someone was sick of what we had in the room or we were too tired. We actually only ate there once, I think, in 9 days! I think your Costco plan is a good one. I will say that the quantities were just too much for us, even with 6 people for 9 days so we ended up at Safeway and target. We can't all agree to eat exactly the same things as each other, and to eat the same thing several days in a row! So we needed the variety available in smaller quantities. I wish I had just packed a jar of PB and some jelly packets ( though I did see jelly packets at Ulu, after we bought a whole jar...), some mayo packets too. Would have saved a few bucks for doing that. Prices were higher than here in Dallas so that hurt. Even though Costco sounds like they price similar to home, over-buying in quantity and throwing a lot out was going to eat into that savings for us. Sounds like you will have time to see how Costco looks, and then run to Safeway and/or target on your rental car day if needed. They are all within a few minutes of each other.

 

[crystal1313]

We are worried about the quantity of items from Costco as well, for the same reason @twodogs . We figure it is free money from the giftcard and we will see what we can get. Hoping to buy rolls for sandwiches, delli meat, maybe some meat to grill, pog juice, milk, beer, cider (anyone know if they have pineapple hard cider at Costco?), and something for breakfast...not sure yet as to what. I was thinking maybe muffins? Maybe I will throw in a bag of cereal. My kids will eat cereal for any meal. LOL. DH also mentioned grabbing a prepared meal like lasagna. We will see! We have $200 on the giftcard.

 

[happymommy]

We easily spend $300 at Costco for a first big shopping trip, although our next trip will be smaller amounts but many shopping days! I've never seen anything like pineapple hard cider, but you could check Target? Honestly never heard of it! Like their vodka for drinks though! And regular beer - but their tequila my husband bought a few years ago and it wasn't great. Passed it on to a family in the hallway when we were leaving. We still save so much even with leftovers, but I get creative in planning meals so we don't have much. We usually buy a large veggie tray and eat on that for a few days. We buy rice at Target, so make rice & fish and dried seaweed (husband is Korean so we like that). Kimchee is different in Hawaii - got it at Costco (we are used to Hawaiian but it is not Korean style). Left most of it for housekeeping. Wine is good priced! Either way, liquor is so much cheaper than at the resort, so I don't care if we don't use it all (but we usually do, LOL).

Target has condiments for the same price as home. I've brought PB&J from home, and then my family snubs it. Spoiled.

One trip we got the Kellogg's cereals in little boxes at Costco - kids were little so we used almost all of it. Took the rest home (and it's a good airplane snack). Still cheaper than Safeway!

 

[kelly3kids]

Just a side note, if your boys like ketchup don't buy it at Target get it at Ulu. The first time we went to Aulani we bought the smallest thing of ketchup and didn't use most of it. This time we got handfuls from Mama's snack shack and Ulu. We made hotdogs and got fries to share from Mama's. We eat early and Mama's is open until 5 so I would go down right about 4:40 and get their french fries to go with our hotdogs and burgers or chicken nuggets we made in the room. Get the packets and save money not buying catch up. We did this with butter too because my MIL bought a cinnamon roll from Ulu one more and brought about 6 or 7 butters back. We used those to grill ham sandwiches, so good. It wasn't planned it just happened.

 

[disnygirl55]

Wishing you a very happy 15th anniversary trip. It's been fun watching your comments while planning for this vacation. I'm really looking forward to hearing all about it while you are there, and when you return. Big anniversary numbers are always worth some special plans - we just had our 25th on a DCL cruise, and it was an amazing celebration. I hope you have just as much fun as we had. We are looking forward to our very first time in Hawaii next March, so will be interested in any tips you can share with us upon your return - have fun!!!!

 

[crystal1313]

Just a side note, if your boys like ketchup don't buy it at Target get it at Ulu. The first time we went to Aulani we bought the smallest thing of ketchup and didn't use most of it. This time we got handfuls from Mama's snack shack and Ulu. We made hotdogs and got fries to share from Mama's. We eat early and Mama's is open until 5 so I would go down right about 4:40 and get their french fries to go with our hotdogs and burgers or chicken nuggets we made in the room. Get the packets and save money not buying catch up. We did this with butter too because my MIL bought a cinnamon roll from Ulu one more and brought about 6 or 7 butters back. We used those to grill ham sandwiches, so good. It wasn't planned it just happened.

Awesome idea! Thank you!! We were just talking about butter and things =)

Wishing you a very happy 15th anniversary trip. It's been fun watching your comments while planning for this vacation. I'm really looking forward to hearing all about it while you are there, and when you return. Big anniversary numbers are always worth some special plans - we just had our 25th on a DCL cruise, and it was an amazing celebration. I hope you have just as much fun as we had. We are looking forward to our very first time in Hawaii next March, so will be interested in any tips you can share with us upon your return - have fun!!!!

Thank you SO much! I hope to contribute to all the wonderful information on this forum! Feel free to ask me questions while I am there. I hope to check the Dis at least once a day.

 

[twodogs]

Regarding breakfast items at Costco, that is one area where I feel we would have bought at Costco and been ok on quantity. They have very good (my opinion, seconded by my kids) muffins. They are in 6 packs (the muffins are large and my kids can only usually eat 1/2 one at breakfast with other stuff), mix and match, two packs of 6. They have chocolate-chocolate chip, vanilla chocolate chip, blueberry (and maybe poppy seed? we don't like that flavor so I haven't looked too closely) at our local Costco, and I assume it is the same in Hawaii. They also have pound cakes in the shape of muffins, but those are a 12 pack. So if your crew likes muffins, get some at Costco! Safeway was very picked over for muffins, and Target had little tiny poppy seed ones and that was it.

 

[BCV23]

Count me as another who has enjoyed reading your comments as you researched your trip. I think your plans are awesome. Safe travels tomorrow and have a fantastic anniversary trip.

 

[crystal1313]

Thank you @BCV23 !! I am all packed, house is all clean, just got to clean out my car and I am done. I have to admit I am a bit nervous to fly!! I just want my boys to feel comfortable, so I think that is why I am anxious. I think I'll feel better once we are through security! I am excited though and so are the kids. And my youngest overcame his fear of the deep end of the pool this weekend and even jumped off a diving board at my friends house!! Huge milestone for him. Yay!!

does anyone know if I can use the back pack as a carry on and the Mickey bag as my purse? We are flying on Alaska and they don't provide dimensions for the personal item, only the carry on. Thanks!!!